OPG in the Community – April, 2019

Heating up: Ontario Power Generation (OPG) recently completed a major program of upgrades to its incinerator at the Western Waste Management Facility (WWMF), with all the work completed safely. At about $40 million, this was a small project compared with, say, the $12.8 billion Darlington Refurbishment or the similar-sized Bruce Power Major Component Replacement. Nevertheless, the incinerator upgrades are vital to how waste is managed at the Bruce site; they ensure at least another 15 years of life in this important machine, which helps to reduce waste volumes, thereby reducing the over-all environmental footprint of the site. In fact, incineration can reduce volumes by 80 per cent or more, while keeping emissions far below regulatory limits – a win-win for the environment.

Leading the way: Growing up on a farm, Ken Hartwick learned the value of hard work. As OPG’s new CEO, he will be counting on OPG’s leadership team and 9,300 employees to get the job done, building on successes to date in Darlington Refurbishment and broadening OPG’s Renewable Generation business. While Ken is already highly familiar with OPG operations at the Bruce site, we look forward to his first visit as CEO, this coming month.

Around Ontario:

Reaching milestones: More than two years after OPG and its project partners began the Darlington Refurbishment project, Unit 2 remains on track for completion early next year. Since the reactor’s successful disassembly last spring, the project team has been putting the unit back together by installing hundreds of calandria tubes, fuel channels and feeder tubes.

Harnessing the sun: OPG’s first ever solar power facility is now online, generating clean, renewable electricity for Ontario. The new 44-megawatt Nanticoke Solar was built in partnership with the Six Nations of the Grand River Development Corporation and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. The facility, situated along Lake Erie in Haldimand County, was put into service in March, on schedule and on budget.

School of fish: Elementary students this month are helping to release Atlantic Salmon small fry into Cobourg Creek, after the fish were hatched this winter at OPG’s Darlington Information Centre. The new hatchery is part of a classroom initiative run by the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, in connection with an OPG-sponsored, multi-partner program called Bring Back the Salmon. (OPG sponsors many biodiversity initiatives across Ontario, including fish hatcheries in Bruce County.)